The present invention relates to a foot massage apparatus, and in particular to a foot massage apparatus which is capable of performing various massages such as an acupressure massage, a cold-water massage, a hot-water massage, a massage with medicine added, etc. effeciently by including a bottom surface jet means installed inside a main body, an intermittent jet head for intermittently jetting water toward the upper surface and bottom surface of a user""s feet, an upper casing and a lower casing angle-adjustably coupled to each other, an acupressure roller installed at a center portion of a footstool, an aromatic agent jet means and a hot-air drying means, a heater installed between a detachable water vessel and a pump, and an input tube for depositing ice, salt, various medicines, etc. into the detachable water vessel installed at a lower casing of the main body.
Generally, a foot massage apparatus using air bubbles in an underwater state or a vibrator is widely known.
A foot massage apparatus using an air-bubble generator is convenient for using a liquid medicine but has little massage effect, and a foot massage apparatus using an electric vibrator is difficult to use for administering a liquid medicine and simply vibrates the feet of a user, and accordingly both foot massage apparatus can not have a massage effect by pressure such as a momentary impact or continuous impact.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a foot massage apparatus which is capable of improving a massage effect by impacting continuously or intermittently on the sole as well as the top side of the feet of a user by using water pressure, and selecting a liquid medicine massage or a cold-hot water massage as occasion demands.
It is another object of the preset invention to provide a foot massage apparatus which is capable of adjusting a combining angle of an upper casing coupled to a lower casing, and performing acupressure with water currents while also performing acupressure with an acupressure roller.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a foot massage apparatus which is capable of jetting an aromatic agent during a massage by including an aromatic agent jetting means, and of drying the wet feet of the user efficiently after a massage by hot air from a hot-air drying means.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a foot massage apparatus which is capable of performing various massages such as an acupressure massage with an acupressure roller, a cold-hot water massage, a salt massage, a liquid medicine massage, etc. efficiently by means of a heater installed between a detachable water vessel and a pump and an input tube installed at a certain side of a main body in order to inject ice, salt and various liquid medicines into the detachable water vessel installed at the lower casing of the main body.
It is further another object of the present invention to provide a foot massage apparatus which is capable of improving an acupressure effect by performing acupressure with a plurality of acupressure rods intermittently by using air pressure.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects of the present invention, there is provided a foot massage apparatus including an upper casing, a lower casing and an openable casing cover. Accordingly, it is possible to clean every nook and corner of the foot massage apparatus by opening the casing cover.
A fixation contact rubber for fixing an ankle of a user is installed at the casing cover in order to dam up jets of water. The fixation contact rubber has a flexibility and elasticity, is soft to the touch by utilizing a contact portion and a pleat portion in design and is suitable for all sizes of ankle. A limit switch operated by a movable contact rubber is installed at the casing cover so as to prevent the water from leaking outwardly due to a wrong operation.
In addition, because a pair of rubber lids shutting a pair of foot insertion holes of the casing cover is included in the foot massage apparatus, it is possible to shut the pair of foot insertion holes in cleaning of the foot massage apparatus using jet-water, and it is also possible to protect the foot massage apparatus from dust penetrating into the main body by putting a pair of rubber lids on the foot massage apparatus when the foot massage apparatus is in safekeeping or not in use for a long time.
The foot massage apparatus includes jet heads each having a jet nozzle and separately installed at the front side, the rear side and the lower side of a main body. The jet nozzle of each jet head is formed not as a shower type but with three holes in order to jet water very strongly. Water currents jetted from the three jet nozzles jetting water are shut and opened by turns in accordance with the rotation of an impeller installed inside the jet head in an intermittent effect, whereby the intermitted water currents are jetted to the feet, and accordingly a massage effect can be maximized by beating and stimulating the feet.
The jet heads are installed at about 40 spots in order to jet the strongest water current with the same water pressure. Three nozzles are formed at each jet head, and the total of 120 water currents massage the feet efficiently by beating the whole feet strongly and intermittently. Accordingly the massage effect can be maximized in a very short time.
A plurality of cylinder-shaped recesses are formed within a pair of virtual foot installation regions at the bottom surface of the upper casing. An intermittent jet head is separately installed at each recess, and a pressure water supply pipe is connected to a pressure water chamber.
The intermittent jet head installed at each recess is placed along acupressure points of the feet (i.e., a passage for circulating energy and blood up and down and branches divided from the passage in a network, in order to circulate energy and blood to every nook and corner of a body) as in oriental medicine, and accordingly an acupressure massage effect can be added.
An intermittent acupressure means including an acupressure rod can be installed as occasion demands in order to perform acupressure with the acupressure rod being protruded intermittently. When a plurality of acupressure rods are protruded intermittently by air pressure, the acupressure effect can be doubled.
A footstool fabricated with a metal net for putting the feet thereon comfortably is installed at a position at a distance of 100xcx9c150 mm from the jet nozzle of the front jet means where the effect of the water pressure is maximized, and an acupressure roller is installed at the center of the footstool. An input tube is installed at the side of the main body, and ice, salt, various medicines, etc. injected into the input tube dissolve in the water of the detachable water vessel installed at the lower casing of the main body. Accordingly, acupressure with the acupressure roller, various massages such as a cool/hot water massage, a salt massage, a medicine massage, etc. can be performed.
Because the inner bottom surface of the upper casing of the main body slopes upward, the strongly jetted water flows into the detachable water vessel at the lower casing of the main body through a drain outlet installed at the rear of the bottom surface, and then flows into the detachable water vessel after being filtered through a mesh screen combined with the drain outlet. Here, because the mesh screen is removable, it is easy to clean the mesh screen. As for the mesh screen, a carbon filter may be used to clean the used water.
In addition, because the detachable water vessel can be easily separated from the main body, it is easy to clean and there is no need to move the main body near to a water supplier. And as there are graduations on the water vessel, water can be easily and accurately filled into the detachable water vessel.
An ultraviolet lamp is installed at the upper portion of the detachable water vessel in order to sterilize the water inside the water vessel. Accordingly it is possible to perform a sanitary massage. When the user inserts the detachable water vessel into the lower portion of the main body, a discharge pipe of the detachable water vessel is connected with a water supply pipe of a pump, and a valve installed at the discharge pipe of the detachable water vessel is opened. When the user pulls the water vessel outwardly, the valve is shut.
Because a mesh screen is connected with the discharge pipe of the detachable water vessel, it is possible to perform a massage with clean water. When a double filtering arrangement is adopted by installing a mesh screen between the discharge pipe of the detachable water vessel and the water supply pipe of the pump, it is possible to perform a massage with cleaner water by which can be prevented more surely impurities from penetrating into a pump motor.
A heater is installed at the center portion of the pump in order to heat the water to a certain degree. The water temperature is adjusted by a precise temperature sensor sensing the water temperature and an electronic circuit. The heating means can be used safely by increasing a life span and decreasing a hazard such as an electric leakage, etc. by embedding the heater into a circular pipe (i.e., a cylinderical pipe is made of aluminum), and because the inner circumferential portion of the circular pipe which forms a passage for the water is formed with a concave-convex shape, the heating efficiency can be maximized.
The water supplied from the detachable water vessel flows into a pump after passing through the heating means, is directly delivered into the jet heads placed at the bottom surface, the front surface and the rear surface of the main body by a pumping force of the pump, flows into an inlet hole formed so as to be symmetric with respect to the peripheral wall of the cylinder unit and rotates an impeller combined with each jet head. As the impeller of each jet head rotates by the pressure of the water, a shutter plate of the impeller periodically shuts/opens a nozzle hole formed in the nozzle cover of each jet head. Accordingly, the feet can be massaged by the water jetted intermittently and strongly. The water does not flow through small pipes individually but flows a minimum quantity through a pressure water chamber with only passage of water divided into a bottom jet means, a front jet means and a rear jet means, whereby a water current is jetted stronger by increasing a pressure of the water and maintains the same water pressure in each nozzle by directly connecting each nozzle to the minimum quantity of the pressure water chambers.
Because the rear portion of the lower casing is hinge-combined with the upper casing, the front portion of the upper casing can be lifted by being separated from the lower casing, whereby the user can use the foot massage apparatus at the easiest angle by adjusting the angle of the upper casing at a certain degree for the convenience of the user.
An aromatic agent jet means is combined with the casing cover. Accordingly it is possible to jet an aromatic agent inside the main body during the massage.
A hot air drying means in installed inside the main body. Accordingly, it is possible to dry the feet easily after the massage.
And, in order to perform the above-mentioned functions, an operation panel controlling various functions and including switches such as a power switch, a water pressure switch adjusting a water pressure as a high pressure or a low pressure, a temperature adjusting switch adjusting a water temperature as a low, a medium or a high temperature, an ultraviolet sterilization lamp switch turning on/off an ultraviolet sterilization lamp and a dryer switch operating a dryer, etc. is installed at the front upper surface of the main body in the easiest position to operate the foot massage apparatus for a user, and all the above-mentioned functions are controlled by an electronic circuit.